Snowbound
by Relatively Unknown
Summary: Scott's car goes off the road into a snowbank during a storm. He goes to the nearest house for help. Guess who's there? (m/m)


A/N: Uh.... get back 2 ya on dat.  
  
  
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Scott had been in downtown Bayville when the snowstorm came up out of no where. He was pulling out of the mall's parking lot, in fact. Gritting his teeth and turning the heat up, he headed into the white-out.  
  
  
No good. He couldn't see anything, and soon became lost among the many criss-crossed roads that dotted the area. He thought he saw the road that led up to the mansion, so he tried to turn. His car slid, and he slammed on the brakes. It skidded across the snow and smashed into a large snowbank. There, the engine sputtered and died.   
  
  
"No, no, no!" Scott muttered to himself. He tried starting it, but it refused to turn over. "C'mon.... start...."  
  
  
It was no use. The engine wasn't going to start. And without the engine, he didn't have any heat. And without any heat.... he'd freeze to death before anyone found him. ~I gotta get to a house..... Is there any around?~ He strained to see out the windshield, but it was covered in snow. In a last ditch effort he pushed his door open and stood up. The wind burned at his face, but he ignored it. Scott was about to give up when he saw a faint light in the distance. Shutting his door he started to make for it.  
  
  
Closer..... and closer..... it was a porch light, that much he could see. He kept struggling against wind as it whipped around him. Closer.... and closer still. Now he could see the faint outline of a house. He kept his eyes forward and didn't look away as he came yet even closer still..... Finally, he reached the house. Climbing up the steps, he tried to knock on the door, but just then his strength left him, and he collapsed.  
  
  
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Lance had heard the *thump* noise out on the porch. At first he figured it was snow and dismissed it from his mind, but something was nagging at him. In the end, he couldn't stand it any longer and went to the front door. He opened the door, and was hit by the cold. He jumped back, and started to slam the door when he saw something. Or rather, someone.   
  
  
Someone was collapsed on the porch. Instincts kicked in and Lance grabbed the person and dragged them inside. He slammed the door shut, which seem to rouse the person. At closer inspection, Lance saw the tell-tale shades. ~Oh great. Summers.~  
  
  
Scott had heard the loud *bang* and he forced his eyes open. He was so cold. He tried to get up, but found it hard to move. He felt something pull on him, tugging him upwards. He tried to yank away, and a voice responded.  
  
  
"Christ Summers, I'm just tryin' to help ya." ~That voice.... I know it.~ Scott's groggy mind thought. He tried to turn his head to see who it was that was helping him up. The face didn't register immediately.  
  
  
"A-A-Alv-Alvers?" Scott stuttered out. He was shaking violently.   
  
  
"C'mon, we gotta get ya out of those clothes." Scott let Lance put his one arm over Lance's shoulders, and stumbled up the steps.   
  
  
Once at the top, Lance steered him to the bathroom, where he let him lean against the sink. Lance went to his room and found some jeans and borrowed a sweater from Pietro. Bringing the clothes back to the bathroom, he set them on the sink, and gave Scott a once over.  
  
  
"Ya need help?" He asked. ~Why am I helping him?~ He pushed the thought of his mind. Scott was about to decline, then realized that he was shaking too violently to do it on his own.  
  
  
"Y-Yeah." He stuttered out.   
  
  
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Scott was now curled up inside a semi-warm blanket, in front of, of all things, a fire. It wasn't that he wasn't used to it, they had fireplaces at the mansion, but just seeing the Brotherhood having one required some imagination and lots of trust. Scott knew he wouldn't trust them with fire.  
  
  
"Here." He looked up to see Lance holding something out to him. A mug.  
  
  
"What is it?" He asked, taking it.  
  
  
"Coffee. And no, there's no poison in it. If I wanted to kill ya, you'd still be outside." Lance sat down across from him in front of the fire. Scott drank it, the hot liquid warming his body immediately.  
  
  
"Where's the others?" He asked Lance, doing his best to hold back any insults. It didn't take much. He was too cold to insult anyone.  
  
  
"Hell if I know anymore." Lance muttered. "Stuck in Bayville somewhere probably. Ya see they're smarter than to try to drive in a white-out."  
  
  
"Or are they just to scared to risk it?" Scott countered. To his surprise, Lance smiled.  
  
  
"Pietro's driving, what does that tell ya?" He said. Scott shuddered, and this time it wasn't from the cold.  
  
  
"I'd rather have a mad Logan driving." He said. Nothing was said for a while. It was strange, sitting here next to his rival, who wasn't making snide remarks or trying to punch his lights out. In fact, he had helped him. His line of thought was interrupted by the lights flickering and going off. He saw Lance close his eyes and sigh. "Somebody else wrecked."  
  
  
"No, we forgot to pay the electric bill." Lance said, getting up and disappearing into the darkness. He returned with two old fashioned oil lamps. He used a lighter and lit them, setting them on opposite ends of the living room. He then returned to his previous place. "We're not rolling in the dough, like you and the others."  
  
  
"Is that what you think? That the Professor is just some eccentric millionaire?"  
  
  
"Yeah, pretty much." Lance said, giving him a look that said 'prove me wrong'.  
  
  
"Well, he's not. We're on a tight budget. We can't just go out and buy whatever we want. At first, when it was just me, Jean, Logan, Storm, and the Professor, it wasn't that bad, but in the past year with all the recruits we're stretched pretty thin."  
  
  
"I find that hard to believe. Don't forget, I was there for a week. Ya guys eat gourmet food! Hell, I don't even how ya spell gourmet! And ya guys had heat, electric, water, a pool, a big mansion, enough technologic equipment to run a small country, and you're complaining? Damn I wish I was in your place." Lance told him. Scott lapsed into silence.  
  
  
~He's right ya know.~ He told himself. ~He's a jackass, that's what he is~ His mind countered. This continued for a while. He hated when this happened. The annoying voices in his head. They started when he got whacked on the head in the plane crash that killed his parents. Shut up! He hadn't realized that he had said those last two words aloud.  
  
  
"I ain't sayin' anythin'!" Lance growled.  
  
  
"Not you...." Scott shook his head, hoping the voices would go away. "Argh!"  
  
  
"What's with you?"   
  
  
"They won't shut up!" He said through his clenched teeth. Lance gave him an incredulous look, and finally, they went away.  
  
  
"Ooookay." Lance said. He scooted back some, putting more distance between them.  
  
  
"I'm not dangerous." Scott told him.  
  
  
"And yet you're obviously hearing voices in your head."  
  
  
"But I'm not dangerous." He protested. "Fine, I'll explain it. Ya know I was in a plane crash, right?"  
  
  
"Yeah, Tabby told us the sob story."   
  
  
"Well, during it, I got hit on the head, which scrambled my mind. That's why I can't control my powers, and why I hear voices in my head. I'm normally on medication, but I forgot to take it this morning." He explained.  
  
  
"Guess ya ain't so perfect after all, huh?" Lance grinned, winning the round.  
  
  
"I never said I was. Ya wanna talk about perfect, talk to Jean. She never does ANYTHING wrong." Scott changed his voice, so it sounded nasally.  
  
  
"So you don't like her either?" This resulted in a glare. "Guess so. I personally think her brains are scrambled for going out with asshole Duncan. Then again they're perfect together... they're just so....."  
  
  
"Perfect." Scott finished. "And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with ya, he is an asshole."  
  
  
"Ooo, touchy subject? Oh, that's right, you like Red." Lance said. "Well, my hats off to ya."  
  
  
"Shut up, okay? And I don't like her. Never did. People just blow shit out of proportion." Scott stared into the fire. No use. It reminded him of Jean's hair. ~Damn her!~  
  
  
"I know that feeling." Lance said. He didn't elaborate, and Scott didn't ask. "So what were ya doin' out in the cold?"  
  
  
"None of your business." Scott said.  
  
  
"Ya don't need to get all defensive, man. I was just askin'."   
  
  
"I was at the mall. Not for any particular reason, I just had to get out of that mansion before I went insane."  
  
  
"New kids driving ya up the wall?" Lance guessed.  
  
  
"Yeah."  
  
  
"I know all about that. I live with Pietro, remember? Interesting times is when he gets his hands on sugar."  
  
  
"So is he your secret weapon?" Scott asked, kidding. Lance nodded solemnly. Then laughed.  
  
  
"He should be. He could take out the entire US Army on one candy bar." His laughing was contagious, and Scott began to laugh.   
  
  
"What's the craziest thing he ever did?" Scott asked, trying to keep the conversation going. Silence was the last thing he wanted.  
  
  
"Everything he did." Scott gave him a look. "Okay... uh..... New Year's Eve we went and crashed a party a few towns over and Pietro got so drunk, that he jumped up on the bar and began stripping. He was down to his boxer shorts by the time Fred got him down. Never did find his shirt."  
  
  
"I did not need that mental image." Scott told him.   
  
  
"Hey, you asked. Speaking of which, what's the craziest thing you've ever done? Not do homework?"  
  
  
"Me? No, much worse. Back before my powers came, I was 13 or something, my friends dared me to climb the water tower, and write something on it. Scary part was that the water tower was rusted completely, and it creaked when the wind blow. I couldn't back out so I got a can of white spray paint and climbed it in the middle of the night. I barely made it down alive."  
  
  
"What did ya write?" Scott had been hoping he wouldn't ask that.  
  
  
"Truthfully? I wrote 'S. Summers is gay' in huge letters. And this thing was tall too, so you could see a pretty far off."  
  
  
"You wrote that?" Lance said in disbelief. "Damn, man, I wouldn't even write that about myself. Is it true?"  
  
  
"Me? Gay? No, uh-uh, I don't think so." Scott looked away, but glanced back out of the side of his shades. Lance had a strange look on his face.... ~Disappointment? Nah....~ "What about you? You swing the other way?"  
  
  
"Maybe." Lance had a smirk on his face. Scott couldn't tell if he was joking or not. ~Christ, he ain't! Shit, what if he finds out about me? I'll never here the end of it!~ "You look scared. Why?"  
  
  
"I-I-I ain't scared." He stuttered out. He shivered, pretending he was cold.  
  
  
"You're not cold." Lance said.  
  
  
"Yes I am! See? I'm shivering." Scott shook to enforce his words.  
  
  
"You're faking. Trust me, I'm an expert at faking things." Lance said.   
  
  
"So what if I am? It don't mean anything." Scott went on defensive.  
  
  
"Correction, it means everything." Lance was suddenly quieter. "And for the record, I'm bi."  
  
  
"I ain't recording nothin'." Scott said, looking away. He heard no reply. Looking back, he saw Lance leaning against the front of a battered chair behind him.   
  
  
"How long have ya known?" He asked, not smirking or anything.   
  
  
"For a few months now." Scott saw no reason in trying to pretend anymore. Lance knew-- that was that. "You?"  
  
  
"A long time." Came the answer. "Have you ever loved anyone? A guy, I mean."  
  
  
"No." Scott answered.  
  
  
"I have." Lance said, without being asked. "I loved him so much that I hated him. God, I hated him. I did everything I could to torture him. And finally I thought I was over him. Then he showed up on my front porch."  
  
  
Scott knew who he was talking about. He was talking about him. It took all of his self control he had not to lose it. He breathed in and out a couple of times, before steeling his nerves and asking.   
  
  
"Then what happened?"  
  
  
"I realized I didn't hate him. That I loved him instead." Lance said. Scott tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry. Everything he thought of saying refused to come out. He looked at Lance and did the only thing he could. He kissed him.  
  
  
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Lance was surprised finding Scott's mouth on his own, but quickly regained his composure and deepened the kiss. He slid down to the floor, til he was flat on his back and Scott was putting his hands up his shirt.  
  
  
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Scott awoke some hours later, in the middle of the night. He was using Lance's bare chest as a pillow. He glanced up at the him, and saw that he was still sleeping. Scott laid his back down and let Lance's steady breathing lull him back to sleep.  
  
  
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The next time Scott woke up, he was alone, curled up in front of the fire, which someone had added wood to, and it was daylight. Getting up and getting dressed, he wondered into where the kitchen and found Lance sitting at the table, flipping through a magazine, and drinking coffee. Scott tiptoed up and hugged him from behind.  
  
  
"Morning." Lance said, nuzzling him, before Scott pulled away and sat down across from him. "Electric's still out. Got instant coffee though. Taste like shit, but gives ya the caffeine ya need."  
  
  
"I think I'll pass." Scott said.  
  
  
"Your loss." Lance shrugged, and went back to his magazine. A few seconds later, he threw it aside. "There's about seven feet of snow outside, and nobody's goin' anywhere, not until the county decides to plow, which'll be around ten tonight. Guess you're stuck here."  
  
  
"And what's wrong with that?" Scott asked.  
  
  
"Nothing. Nothing at all."  
  
  
"I guess I should contact the Professor, to tell him I'm okay." Lance shrugged again, the second time in five minutes.   
  
  
~Professor? You there? It's me Scott.~ There was no reply at first. Then.... ::Scott? Thank God you're alright, we were all worried. Where are you?:: ~I'm at a family's house. My car slid off the road. I'm fine, though, no injuries.~ ::Well, that's good. Who is the family?:: ~Uh... I forget. They're nice people though. I just wanted to contact you, that's all.~ ::Do you want me to send Logan or Storm to come get you?:: ~No, no, I'm fine. I'll just wait until the roads are plowed and try to dig my car out.~ ::Are you sure?:: ~Yeah, I'm sure.~ ::Alright, then.::  
  
  
"Well? They comin' to get you?" Lance asked him.  
  
  
"No, I told him I'd dig my car out after they plowed the roads."  
  
  
"You're not gonna get it out by yourself. I'll help ya."  
  
  
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"C'mon.... start, dammit!" Scott cursed. They had gotten his car out, but it still wouldn't start. "God fucking dammit!"  
  
  
"Calm down, Summers. I'll take you and you're car home." Lance told him.   
  
  
"Yeah, and what do ya think the others are gonna say? I lied to the Professor. I told him I was at some family's house."  
  
  
"Why? Didn't want Cueball to find out?"   
  
  
"No, he knows I'm... that I'm bi. He accidently found out."  
  
  
"Lemme guess, he was trippin' through your head?"  
  
  
"No, he overhead me talking to myself. I lied because I know he would get mad if he found out I was with you." Scott said. "And I don't wanna lose you."  
  
  
"Well you're gonna if don't tell him. Cuz I ain't gonna sneak around and pretend that I don't. I don't give a damn what they think, and neither should you."   
  
  
"Just take me home." Was all Scott said.  
  
  
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The entire way over, he sulked in silence, and wondered what he was going to tell the Professor. ~ 'Oh hey, Professor, guess what? Ya know I'm bi, right? Well I'm in love with Lance, are you mad?' ~ That was not going to work.   
  
  
They arrived waaay too early for his tastes. He still hadn't thought of a good excuse. He hoped that maybe no one would see Lance, and that would give him some more time. But noo, Jean had to rush out to meet him, tailed by the others. ~Oh goody.~  
  
  
Lance unhooked Scott's car, which had been chained to the jeep. He threw the chain into the back and got in back into the driver's side. He sat there for a few seconds before starting the engine. He shifted gears and looked at Scott.  
  
  
"It's up to you." He said.   
  
  
"I can't." Scott said so quietly, that only he heard. It didn't matter. Lance was gone.  
  
  
"Wait, I thought you were with a family?" Kurt asked. Scott ignored him and went upstairs to his room.  
  
  
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Scott sulked for the next few days. School was canceled for a week for repairs, because part of the roof had caved in under the weight of the snow. Scott didn't know if that was good or bad. He didn't have to face Lance, but he was stuck in his room with his thoughts, which wasn't any better.  
  
  
The others had continuously asked what was wrong, but said nothing. He had come up with a believable lie for them. He told them that he had been driving when his car stalled on him, and Lance, taking pride his misfortune, offered to drag it home. Whether or not the Professor believed it, he didn't know. And he almost didn't care.  
  
  
For three days he barely left his room. It was tipping the others off, Scott knew, but he couldn't help it. Being around them... made him think about Lance even more. Why, he didn't know, it just did.  
  
  
On the fourth day, his moping was interrupted by a unusually-quiet Kitty phasing through his door.  
  
  
"Didn't anybody ever teach you to knock?" He asked, pulling a pillow over his head.  
  
  
"Like, something happened between you and Lance, like, didn't it?" She asked.   
  
  
"Whatever gave you that idea?" He said, the pillow still over his head. His sarcastic tone didn't go over her head, though.   
  
  
"What happened Scott? Like, did he hurt you, did he, like, say something, what?" She pressed.  
  
  
"Nothing happened!" He threw the pillow off and got up and went to the window. He stared at the winter scene that covered the area.  
  
  
"Like, seems you're really, like, upset over nothing." Kitty said. Scott closed his eyes and faced the floor, leaning against the window sill. He got up and went back over to the bed, sitting next to Kitty. "What happened?"  
  
  
"We.... I...." It was so hard to say. "I'm in love with him. And he's in love with me. And he says if I don't tell the Professor, he's gonna leave me." He waited for some gasp of surprise, but none came. Instead, Kitty seemed rather sincere about it.  
  
  
"Like, toughie. How much do you, like, love him?"  
  
  
"I don't know. I'm not sure of anything anymore." Scott answered truthfully.  
  
  
"Like, ya have to ask yourself, if you love him enough to do something like that, or like, something else." Kitty asked. Scott sighed, and she took that as her cue to leave.   
  
  
~I can't tell him. Even if he understands, the others won't. Jean won't. Not that a give a damn about her opinion, but they'd make my life, and Alvers's, a living hell. God, what am I supposed to do?~ Then it hit him. The only other solution. He got up and started packing.  
  
  
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He had left as soon as the others had gone to sleep. He didn't need their questions right now. He loaded up his car, now fixed thanks to Logan, and left. It wasn't late, just that everyone had been tired out from all day long snowball fights, and all had gone to bed early.  
  
  
He somehow made it without wrecking, although there were a few close calls. He walked up the front porch and knocked. The door opened and there he stood, face to face with him. Lance.  
  
  
"Got room for one more?" Scott asked, gesturing towards the three suitcases in his car.  
  
  
"Always." Lance asked, tugging on his boots to help him carry the suitcases inside.  
  
  
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"C'mon, there's school today." Scott nudged a sleeping Lance.   
  
  
"I don't wanna get up." Lance said. "I wanna stay here with you."   
  
  
Lance began kissing him, and before Scott knew it, they were.... uh... busy. ~No school today, I guess.~ He thought. Little did they know, that the rest of the Brotherhood was gathered outside Lance's bedroom door.  
  
  
"They're at it again, yo!" Todd complained.  
  
  
"Christ, they got energy." Tabby commented.   
  
  
"Looks like I get to drive!" Pietro declared, dashing down the stairs.  
  
  
"NO!!" 


End file.
